Villains Don't Get Happy Endings
by tonguemarksonmymirror
Summary: Set post 4x11. When Henry finds the books in the author's library, he simply can't rest without knowing the full story. What happens when he discovers his mother's past?


**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've written anything on here, but I'm back! This is a little belated Christmas present for a good friend of mine. She's _**xenas-chakram **_over on tumblr if you want to check her out. Hope you enjoy it!

_**Standard Disclaimer:**_I own nothing except my theory on how the books work.

I hope you enjoy, and don't forget to review!

Henry looked at the numerous shelves lining the wall in the spacious room. There were so many books; all of them identical, bound in brown leather and detailed with gold leaf. He picked one out at random, leafing through it lazily and finding a history of a land completely new to him. At least, that's what he assumed, as he couldn't understand the language in which the author had written. He closed the book and placed it exactly where it had come from, continuing down the row of shelves.

Suddenly, he saw an empty space in one of the shelves, only just big enough to fit one more book. Henry didn't know how, but he just _knew_ that his book belonged there. He pulled it out of his backpack and rifled through the pages, flipping through the long-familiar stories. Snow White and Prince Charming, the Evil Queen, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Pinocchio…he had met them all. He was _related_ to most of them. But the stories were his first encounter with them, and he regarded them as old friends.

Although the book meant a lot to him, it still left him with a lot of questions. How did the Evil Queen become evil? Was she always evil? Evil wasn't born; it was made. He'd heard his mother say that before. He wondered what must have happened in her life to make her evil. The book didn't really have a lot to say on that end. Curious, he reached for the book left of the empty space, hoping that perhaps it had more on the subject.

"Henry?" Regina called out, from the other side of the room, where she had been involved in a discussion with Emma. "We need to head out." Eyes wide, Henry nodded, replying "I'll be right there."

"Quickly, Henry" Regina reminded, recalling how Henry got around books. Taking him to the bookstore was rarely a quick affair. Henry rolled his eyes, sticking both books in his backpack, and, in a flash of inspiration, also pulling out the book to the right of the gap. Having put all of them in his backpack, he struggled to lift it, but managed somehow and ran over to his mothers as quickly as he could with what was probably around fifteen pounds on his back.

Regina looked at him suspiciously. "You were very interested in those books" she commented in a seemingly casual tone, though Henry knew his mother well enough to know it was anything but.

"Well, if this is the author's house, maybe the answer is in one of them" Henry defended, scrunching his face in the way he did when he felt especially passionately about something.

"Maybe, kid" Emma could no longer ruffle his hair as easily as she had in the past, so she settled for wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "We'd better come back and check it out. Right now, though, we need to get going. The others are probably waiting for us at Granny's. They'll probably want a status report."

Just as Emma had predicted, the rest of their ragtag extended family was indeed waiting at Granny's. Mary Margaret looked visibly relieved to see them, and ran out to envelop them in a massive hug.

"I'm so happy you're all right!" She gushed, refusing to let go of any of them. Emma managed to wrest herself from her mother's grasp.

"We're fine" She looked at Mary Margaret, slightly concerned. "The house was completely empty. All we did was check out the library. There were thousands of books, but nothing to worry about."

Still not entirely convinced, Mary Margaret looked at her daughter. "Are you sure? Because the last time you were in there…" she trailed off, but Emma remembered it clearly.

"Yes, I'm fine. Nothing happened this time." She said, smiling to show that she was indeed fine.

"Henry and I are fine too" Regina cut in rather bluntly. She was a bit on edge after everything that had happened in the past few weeks, and losing Robin didn't make things any easier for her. Mary Margaret's gaze suddenly turned to her, as if she had snapped out of a trance.

"Oh, Regina, I" Mary Margaret immediately began apologizing profusely and making excuses, but Regina held up her hand.

"Save it. I'm in no mood. The point is, we still have no idea exactly what we're up against. All we have to guide us is the library in the abandoned house. We'll probably need to make a few trips and see exactly what's in those books. As I have the most experience with magical artifacts, I will lead each trip. I don't need anyone getting trapped inside a book, or worse."

"Is that possible?" David wondered, earning himself a look from Regina.

"And this is exactly why you need me. I suggest everyone go home and get some rest. It's been a long and exhausting day for all of us." The creases around her eyes betrayed exactly how tired she was. All of her worries only compounded the situation, but there was no reason to voice her nagging suspicion that there was something greater brewing…

"I agree" Emma spoke, pulling herself to her full height and looking around the room to see various states of exhaustion reflected back at her. "We still have a long way to go before we know exactly what's going on. Go home and gather your strength."

With those parting words, everyone left the diner without another word, each heading to their own home. Henry's walk home with Regina was quiet. He asked if she was okay, and after a soft "I'm fine, Henry" paired with a pained smile, Henry saw that she wasn't up to talking. It gave him the time to mull over what he had seen in the library.

So many books. So many stories. From the looks of it, more than half of the books were empty. Did something happen to the author? Or was this simply as far as the stories had been written? Henry didn't know, but he wanted to find out.

When they got home, Henry immediately ran upstairs, ignoring his mother's warning not to run up the stairs, and dumped his bag onto his bed, the books spilling out. Setting his book aside, he opened the one that had been under it.

His book started with the story of Snow White and Prince Charming; how they had met, their battles with the Evil Queen and King George and various other foes, and their wedding, ending with the curse. There were several other stories intertwined and a lot of rough edges that suggested pages were missing from the book. Henry had noted that those pages mostly came from the section about the Evil Queen. He wondered if she had torn them out herself, or if it was someone else's doing.

He hoped maybe the previous book would give him some answers about what had happened earlier. He knew almost nothing about his mother's past, except for the parts that she was eager to bury. She insisted that she hadn't always been evil. Henry hoped she was right. His mom had done some awful things, but she'd also been brave and selfless, like a true hero. That had to have come from somewhere, and he believed he could find it in the book.

This book started with the story of the miller's daughter. It looked like Cora, Henry thought, and soon, his suspicion was confirmed. He read through it, and quickly saw how different his mother was from her mother. Cora had been driven by blind ambition, ready and willing to trample anyone and anything who stood in her way. She gave up her child just because it was inconvenient for her to raise the baby. Henry didn't really know a lot about his mother, aside from what he remembered, but he was sure she would never do such a thing. She had told him since he was young that she had chosen him to be her little prince. She always made sure to know he was wanted and loved and special. Things got a little dicey when he was given the book, but up until then, he was really close to his mom.

Cora was never close to anyone. Henry flipped up a bit and came across a picture of her holding up another baby. His mother, he decided. He learned that she had been named Regina by her mother, because she was to fulfill her mother's dream of being Queen.

There wasn't too much in the book about Regina's childhood, but Henry quickly gathered that it was not a happy one. Cora's ambitions only grew, and her patience shrank. She didn't really let her daughter have a childhood. Henry remembered all the times his mom would buy him comic books or read him bedtime stories in funny voices. She'd had none of that herself. Henry started feeling really sorry for her.

He stopped at a page that showed a young Regina crouched over the body of a man, apparently very distressed. Reading the corresponding story, he discovered that his name was Daniel, that he was Regina's love, and that losing him broke her.

Henry felt awful. No one should lose their true love. No one! And when Daniel died, Regina had lost her chance at a happy ending. He read the rest of her story, utterly absorbed. His book only really went into the atrocities she had committed. Henry suspected that was because that book was about Snow and Charming's story. It was written from their perspective. This book was about Regina. He never knew what she had gone through. Losing her true love, her beloved horse, her mother, her fairy godmother, every chance she had at a happy ending…

Henry was so immersed in the story that he didn't hear his mother call him. It wasn't until he heard her footsteps up the stairs that he realized what was going on, and quickly stuffed the book into his pillowcase, sticking the others back in his backpack and throwing it on the ground, kicking it under his bed.

Just then, his door opened, and Regina stood in the doorway. She looked like she'd been crying. Her eyes were slightly puffy, and her nose showed the faintest tinge of red where she must have been blowing it. She smiled at him, clearly trying to make him feel better.

"I called you three times, Henry" she stated, looking around the room and then back at her son with concern.

"Sorry, Mom; I didn't hear you." Henry apologized with a sheepish grin, hoping it was enough.

Regina wasn't entirely convinced, but decided to drop the issue, if the scrunched expression on her face softening was any indication. "I just wanted to call you to make Christmas cookies together. You know, like we do every year. Just because things have been rough lately doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate."

Henry's eyes brightened at the mention of cookies. It was his favorite Christmas tradition. They had a whole bunch of cookie cutters in various shapes, and they always competed to see who could make the most creative cookies. He knew that she probably didn't really feel like making cookies, but she was making an effort, for him.

"I'll be right down, Mom" he promised. Regina smiled softly.

"The dough's already rolled out on the table and the cookie cutters are out. Come pick out which ones you want and we can start baking them." She said, before heading back downstairs.

Henry beamed, jumping off his bed and joining her in the kitchen. True to her word, there was sugar cookie dough already rolled out on the work table, flour covering the entire surface. Henry saw the cookie cutters piled up next to a bowl full of dough and reached for the candy cane, gingerbread man, and star. Regina smiled.

"Go ahead and cut the cookies" Regina gestured toward the dough. Henry raised an eyebrow. She had never trusted him with the actual cookie cutting before; something about him cutting himself on the sharp edges. She nodded and smiled at him, something like pride glistening in her eyes.

Henry brought the star cookie cutter down, making a perfect indentation in the dough, wiggling it around to separate the cookie from the rest of the dough. He repeated the process, making sure all of the cookies were perfect. He didn't want to disappoint his mother.

The scraps were gathered together and rolled out again, and the cookies were baked batch by batch until they were perfectly golden brown. The entire house smelled like sugar and vanilla and butter and peace and contentment. Just like old times, Henry thought.

Finally, all of the cookies were done. They had to let them chill for a bit before decorating them. Henry watched his mother wash the bowls and spatulas as he wiped down the work table. He didn't miss how many times her hands went up to her eyes. There were streaks of flour on her cheeks where she had clearly been wiping away tears.

He continued watching her. She never let him see her weakness, but she couldn't prevent breaking down anymore. After everything he read, he was impressed she had managed to keep it together this long. He saw her looking at him watching her, and he smiled, which she returned, but her heart was clearly not in it.

An hour or two later, trays of cookies were scattered around the dining room table. It was the only surface big enough to hold them all. Small bowls of frosting surrounded them, each holding a different color: white, red, green, blue, yellow, black. There were sprinkles of every kind imaginable and licorice, torn into thin strips.

They sat down, each grabbing a tray of cookies and beginning to decorate them. Henry held up a gingerbread man dressed in a tuxedo, earning a genuine laugh from Regina. She showed him a star with intricate lines stretching toward the middle.

"For my shining star" she said, handing him the cookie, and giving him a kiss on the forehead.

It was the most fun they'd had since Henry could remember. Fun was hard to come by when you were fighting villains and battling for your life. He was happy they could just have the afternoon to bake cookies and pretend things were normal. Still, he didn't miss the sadness haunting her eyes.

It wasn't fair, he thought, when he finally headed off to bed. Why should she suffer and be punished for something she did years and years ago? Henry was pretty sure she'd already been punished enough. She'd lost so much and given up even more just to atone for her actions. When would it be enough?

"Villains don't get happy endings" she had told him, when she bade him farewell at the town line, fully prepared to never see him again. But was she still a villain? She'd destroyed her own curse to save him. She fought Zelena with light magic, and broke her curse with true love's kiss. She had saved them all.

So was she still a villain? Henry didn't think so. People weren't just divided into heroes and villains. They were complicated. His mother was perfect proof. Sure, she'd done lots of bad things, but she was changing. She didn't want to keep living that way. Henry believed that merited a happy ending.

He reached under his bed for the last book. Just as he had suspected, it was empty. Every single page was just creamy whiteness, pristine, and apparently awaiting the next part of the story. Henry flipped through the pages, feeling restless. His book was full. Every last page was filled out. It was obvious that this was next.

He wasn't quite sure how it worked. Did the author write the stories before they happened and create the destinies of those involved? Or were the stories simply a recording of history?

Henry didn't know, but he did know that Regina believed the author held her destiny. Reaching for a pen, he turned back to the first page, and began writing:

_ "Once upon a time, there lived a woman who used to be the Evil Queen, but not anymore. People change and grow. This is her story."_

He kept on writing, filling in everything that had happened since the curse, as far as he remembered, leaving some pages blank where he didn't know exactly what had happened (though when he checked his work later, they were no longer blank, filled in by magic). Finally, he had caught the book up on his mother's life. He paused for a second, not quite sure how to word what he wanted to say next.

_"She had always said that villains don't get happy endings. Well, she's not a villain anymore. She's a hero. And someday, she will have her happy ending."_


End file.
